Chapter 11

Amu fiddled with the edges of the blank paper sitting on the desk in front of her as her forehead creased in concentration. Nibbling on her lower lip, she picked up her pencil once again and placed the tip to the paper before dropping it back down, as her mind was still blank.

"Writing is easy." The pinkette recited to herself, "All one has to do is sit at a typewriter and open a vein." She had seen a poster in her English classroom that said something along the lines of that. Here she was, more than willing to open a vein to find the right words to spill onto the paper.

Not just any words could be settled for, though. With heavy persuading from Rima all week, Amu was finally ready – more or less – to write Tadase a love letter. Rima had planned it all out: Amu would call Tadase and invite him to Kukai's basketball game, then when the opportune moment arose, she'd shyly hand him her love letter and he'd accept her love and they'd live happily ever after.

Amu felt her cheeks heat up. Shaking her head vigorously to be rid of the thoughts, she cleared her throat and straightened her posture, turning her eyes back to the blank, lined sheet of paper. They made it look so easy in movies, so how was it so hard when it came to writing your own confession?

Just when a spark of inspiration flickered in the back of her mind, Amu's bedroom door was flung open, and Ami strolled in.

Her pajama shorts barely covered her bottom and the top she wore displayed her bellybutton perfectly. The auburn-haired girl wandered through the always-tidy room and stopped at Amu's closet. After rummaging silently through the clothes, she emerged from the heap of fabrics and frowned.

"Got anything relatively decent looking?"

Amu sent her an unimpressed look before turning so her back was facing her younger sister.

Ami's eyes fell on the carefully planned outfit sitting on Amu's bed. In an instant, the shirt was in her hands and a grin was on her face. "This! Can I wear this today?"

The pinkette glanced over at what her sister was referring to. It was her gray, knit sweater-dress with the occasional small black heart embedded into the material. In other words: her favorite top. It was also part of the outfit she had specifically chosen to wear on her 'date-ish' thing with Tadase.

Amu gave her younger sister a steely look. "Only if you promise to have it washed by the game tomorrow."

Ami nodded passively and skipped out of the room. Something told Amu that whatever she said just went in one of Ami's ears and straight out the other with a hop, skip, and a jump.

Blowing the stray hairs out of her eyes, Amu slowly twirled back around to stare at the page that was a mirror into her mind. Blank. The urge to rip her hair out was unbearable. It was such a simple task. Plus it had to be done in the next 24 hours.

Taking a quick glance at the time, Amu slid off her chair and grabbed her school bag. She'd leave ahead of Ami for a change, just so she could use the walk to school as a time to think.

"Dear Tadase.." She murmured quietly to herself as she started down the sidewalk. "I've admired you for quite some time. You're not like other guys, you're polite and respectful... I mean, I don't know if I like you or not, but I think I do." Amu shook her head quickly. "Wh-what I mean is...I'm willing to give us a try. I hope you are too."

She finished quietly. Groaning loudly, she quickened her pace and stuffed her hands in her pockets. With all the stress from work, homework, boys, and planning the Christmas dance, she'd barely gotten any sleep over the past few days, not to mention she could feel a zit beginning to grow on her hairline.

What she longed for was the weekend. Two blissful days just jammed with sleep and relaxation. Nothing else. If there was homework that needed to be done, she'd forget about it for the time being. It was healthy to take a break every now and then, she just had to remember to not make a habit of it.

Amu managed to make it into English class just after the bell went off. Nikaidou was too busy with his nose in a book to notice her late entrance, so she quietly slipped into her desk at the back, next to Rima.

No one ever did anything in English class. The occasional poem would be analyzed, but that was about it. With a slacker for a teacher, it was easy to get away with almost everything; including having a very long, passionate discussion about sports. This discussion was, of course, lead by Kukai.

"Soccer is still the best sport, by far. All the other sports just wish they could be as amazing as the beautiful woman who goes by the name 'soccer'." Kukai stated dreamily.

About half the class sent him an odd look.

Kairi, a tall, skinny boy with green hair and large glasses, put his book down and calmly replied, "'Soccer' is a swear word in my household. We're more into martial arts, which, everyone knows, is far more impressive than kicking a ball around a muddy field."

The class turned their attention back to Kukai to see his reaction.

The brunette was fuming. His lips were pursed and his eyes wide. It looked like he was about to blow a rocket ship out his nostrils.

"You soccer ball." He insulted darkly. "Martial arts is just a bunch of high-pitched screaming while moving your hands around like you're some kind of mime!" He then proceeded to stand out of his desk and impersonate a martial artist.

Rima tapped Amu on the shoulder. "Do you want to come to my place tomorrow after school? We could get you all prettied up before the game. Of course you won't look as good as me, but I'm sure we'll find something we can work with."

Amu sifted through that to find a compliment.

"Well, your mama's so fat-" Kukai began loudly.

Amu rolled her eyes and turned back around to face Rima. "Sure that sounds good. I still have to write the love letter, though!"

The two friends were instantly out of their seats when the bell rang. They hurried out of the classroom, leaving Kukai and Kairi behind to sort out their differences.

"You can't write a love confession letter?" Rima arched an eyebrow, clearing unimpressed. Her gaze wandered over to the side, where she grabbed onto the shirt of a boy passing by, pulling him back to stand with them. "Ikuto, help her write a love letter. I've gotta go to cheer."

Ikuto stood in a questioning silence beside Amu, both of them watching Rima hurry away.

Amu stared down at her feet, her face slowly turning a very noticeable shade of red. Something Rima didn't understand was that just because Rima was friends with someone, didn't mean Amu was also friends with them.

"So..." Ikuto began slowly. "You're writing a love letter?" He was smirking.

"I have to go." The pinkette stated quickly before turning around.

"I don't mind helping.." Ikuto called, making Amu glance over her shoulder at him and slowly back up to where she was standing before.

"What? Why?" She asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at the taller male. "Why have you been acting so...'good Samaritan' lately? It's creeping me out."

Ikuto glanced around while exhaling loudly, slipping his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. "I just... I don't want you to be scared of me. There's really nothing to fear..." He said slowly. Anyone could tell he was feeling uncomfortable by being such a softy.

Amu snorted and looked away. "Yeah, that's what they all say."

The older teen looked Amu in the eye, his eyebrows slanting downwards. "Have you had bad experiences in the past, or something?"

The innocent question made it feel like a knife was just stabbed through Amu's heart. Her stomach plummeted and her palms began to sweat. She also found that she couldn't make eye contact or she knew she'd start to blush. "N-no! What makes you say that?" She exclaimed a little too defensively.

Ikuto put his palms up, showing he meant no harm. "Just a question! I didn't mean to.. I don't know.. creep you out even more."

Amu sighed loudly, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. "Okay, well what do you think is a good thing to write in a love letter?" She asked quickly, embarrassed by the fact that she was actually asking for advice on such a thing.

The two began walking down the hall and out one of the side doors of the school so their conversation wouldn't be overheard by everyone else.

"Stuff you'd write in a love letter would be something like.. 'meet me in the girl's washroom in-'" Ikuto began.

"Ikuto!" Amu snarled.

He smirked at her and nodded. "Alright, alright. Well..what is it you like about him?"

Amu rubbed her hands together to keep warm and casted her gaze downwards to think. "He's...different.. I-I can't really explain it." She began slowly. "He respects me and actually acts like he cares about me. I don't know, it's like..he can make me smile just by a phone call, or make my day a little bit better by teasing me, even though I act like it annoys m-" Amu instantly stopped. She wasn't describing Tadase anymore. She had started talking about Ikuto and didn't even realize it.

Eyes widening, Amu cleared her throat and shrugged, hoping Ikuto didn't realize she was just describing him. "I-I don't know..there's lots of things. It just feels weird to say all this stuff out loud. And to you of all people."

"Ouch." He teased with a ghost of a smile, eyes dancing in amusement. He turned semi-serious again. "Write what you just told me. Once you start writing, the words will just kind of...fall into place, I guess."

"Thanks..." Amu replied slowly.

Ikuto began walking back towards the school. "I still think you should write something kinky instead!" He hollered.

"Shut up, you pervert!" Amu yelled back, trying to sound angry, but she couldn't help a smile from making it's way across her lips.

He laughed, keeping his back towards her. Just when he reached the door, he turned back around, hand on the doorknob. "Are you coming to the game tomorrow?"

"Yeah, why?"

Ikuto shrugged. "You should join the cheerleaders so I can watch you dance around in a mini-skirt." He commented devilishly with a wink that'd make any girl melt.

Amu blushed madly while glaring at him. "P-pervert! No way would I do that!" She yelled.

Ikuto laughed and threw open the door. "I'll search the crowd for you tomorrow." He stated with a slight smile in her direction. The eye-contact they made gave Amu's heart a flutter attack, but she rolled her eyes at it, blaming it on her teenage hormones.

Once Ikuto disappeared back into the school, Amu's legs seemed to lose all feeling as she dropped to the ground. She rolled over so she was on her back, her heart beating so loud she thought passer byers would be able to hear. She really should have been heading to her next class, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

Ikuto wasn't at all who she thought he'd be. Now she had the suspicion that she no longer wanted to go to the game simply to hang out with Tadase...but rather to cheer on Ikuto.

Amu groaned, closing her eyes.

"I hate hormones."